Electronic Arts announced Thursday it will be shutting down the servers for Anthem, the BioWare-developed, always-online, cooperative multiplayer action game, effective next year.
“After careful consideration,” EA’s statement begins, “we will be sunsetting Anthem on January 12, 2026. This means that the game will still be playable online for the next 180+ days. As of today, you can no longer purchase in-game premium currency, but you can still use your remaining balance until the servers go offline. We deeply appreciate your dedication, passion and support over the years and we’d like to thank you for that.”
In the FAQ section of its statement, EA clarified that Anthem will remain downloadable and playable from digital libraries until Jan. 12, 2026. While premium currency can no longer be purchased, existing currency is still usable. Anthem has been removed for sale from digital stores, and will be removed from the EA Play library on Aug. 15.
The announcement of Anthem’s servers shutting down comes as a surprise, especially considering EA and BioWare effectively gave up on the title a few years ago when it canceled its previously announced redesign.
In February 2020, one year after Anthem debuted to a lukewarm reception, BioWare announced plans to redesign the game. The aim, according to then-general manager Casey Hudson, was to “reinvent the core gameplay loop.” (Hudson has since departed the company.)
When it was canceled in February 2021, BioWare executive producer Christian Dailey said, “In the spirit of transparency and closure we wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (aka Anthem NEXT).”
Anthem is a multiplayer online action-RPG developed by BioWare, where players pilot customizable exosuits called Javelins to complete missions on an alien planet. Anthem was released on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One in January 2019.
